You've probably heard by now that Pepsi underwent a huge rebranding by New York-based Arnell Group. I first caught wind of this last week via a Brand New post, but since I'm not a carbonated beverage consumer I didn't do much more than post that information at some snowboarding forums; Mountain Dew has a pretty loyal following among extreme action sports athletes.

I'm having a hard time warming up to the new icon, it's suppose to represent a grin, smile, and laughter depending on the Pepsi sub-brand. If you look at it negatively, it almost feels like you aren't experiencing everything Pepsi has to offer unless you go with Pepsi Max. Otherwise you'll only get a grin or a smile. I also can't help but see an eye rather than a mouth. Might make more sense... somewhat sleep with Diet Pepsi, or wide awake with Pepsi Max (is there more caffeine in one or the other). Anyway, I think it's really just the angle of the smile that is unsettling.

The font for the wordmark portion of the logo is pretty nice though, I really appreciate the squiggly line beneath the 'eye' of the e. Invokes some history there by playing off the old icon (the white squiggly line between the red and blue halves).

TropicanaFrom afar, I love the clean simple look of the packaging. But it might be too simple, it's totally devoid of anything a consumer can emotionally connect to. Some might even mistake it for a house brand. It states 100% orange, but looks even more synthetic without the image of the orange on there and I think it was a big mistake getting rid of the straw puncturing an orange imagery, it was so brilliant. If they actually pull off the cap design (doesn't look too ergonomic though) I think that small detail might make up for the lack of an orange on the packaging.

Sierra MistForget it, it's going to get loss next to the Walmart house brand. Not sure if they even care though since it only generates about $1.5 billion in retail sales according to their 2007 annual report. Even Tostitos Tortilla Chips generates more sales. Interesting note though, Gatorade and Tropicana brings in almost equal amounts in sales, but MtnDew is the second largest (distant second) brand and Diet Pepsi is the third largest in the line up and bests both Gatorade and Tropicana, I just thought that was really interesting. Didn't think soda sales were still so high!

GatoradeWay to go backwards... way back. The only Pepsi product I actually consume consistently and its rebranding is disappointing. Was it really necessary to introduce the HUGE 'G'? They were doing so well with the lighting icon, now it gets consumed by the lame G. They are keeping the Gatorade wordmark on there anyway, what is the point of the letter G?

MtnDewLooks like they officially renamed the product to MtnDew. No complaints here. I think this is the most successful redesign of the family. The wordmark is so well executed, they don't even need an icon. The tweaked 'M' really invokes the silhoutte of a mountain and the letters DEW invokes imagery of either land or water because of the reflection idea. On land or water, I think it appeals to all action sports.

So why bother posting my thoughts on all this now? Because the redesign along with a DVD was released to a select few (not me of course) and I thought I'd share the video with you all. I got a kick out of listening to the old school jingle and from seeing all the different logos and bottle designs through the years.

I always thought Pepsi was the edgier brand while Coca Cola was more traditional but the new branding doesn't convey the edginess anymore. But they did make use of FriendFeed which is a big step forward in the social media space. I would've preferred Twitter though (like HTC) but it is limiting, sometimes in a good way.